Device for fixing an electronic display housing

ABSTRACT

A device for fixing a housing of an electronics module includes an intermediate part (6) on which the housing (1) is fixed, and also includes a rail (5a) for receiving the housing (1) and the intermediate part (6), said intermediate part (6) including a locking element (21) that carries a catch (30) suitable for co-operating with complementary relief on the intermediate part (6) to hold the locking element in a retracted position, from which it is released when the intermediate part (6) and the housing (1) are put into place on the rail (5a).

The present invention relates to a device for fixing electronic modulesor housings for displaying information such as prices or the like inretail shops or on any other site, e.g. storage areas or productionfactories.

The Applicant has recently proposed, in particular in French patentapplication FR-2 658 645, an installation including a plurality ofdisplay modules that constitute remotely-controlled electronic labels.

The installation serves to replace conventional card labels with displaymodules having liquid crystal screens and receiving display instructionsfrom a control unit which centralizes all of the information relating tothe various goods displayed in a single shop.

An important advantage of such an installation lies in making itpossible to avoid the lengthy handling required for fully updating theprices of various articles on display in a shop, such as a supermarket.

The display modules are designed to be installed on the edges of theshelving on which the articles are placed. At present, the housings ofthe modules are fixed by means comprising rails running along theshelves and including slideways that engage in complementary grooves onsaid housings. The housings are shifted manually along the rails untilthey are in position relative to the articles with which theycorrespond.

Such fixing means are nevertheless not very satisfactory.

To install the housings, it is necessary for them to be entered oneafter anther in the exact order they are to appear along the shelving,starting from one end of the rail that carries them.

In addition, if one of the display modules needs to be changed, then allof the housings carried by the rail on one side or the other of thehousing of the module that needs to be changed must themselves bedisengaged from the rail.

A main aim of the invention is thus to propose a fixing device thatenables this problem to be solved.

Document GB-2 249 854 already discloses a device for fixing at least oneelectronic module housing for displaying information relating to goodsexposed in a shop, and in particular in a retail shop, the devicecomprising a rail designed to receive the housing and an intermediatepart which carries at least one resilient locking member having at leastone projection designed to co-operate with a groove presented by therail for the purposing of holding said housing relative to said rail,the housing and said intermediate part presenting complementary meansfor fixing said housing on said intermediate part.

The different variants described in that document are not easy tohandle. In particular, mounting the intermediate part on the railrequires the operator to perform relatively accurate movements at therail, which is awkward.

Mounting operations also turn out to be lengthy.

Also, the housing is not held very securely.

An object of the invention is to mitigate these drawbacks.

According to the invention, the solution consists in particular in thatthe locking element has a catch designed to co-operate with acomplementary projection on the intermediate part to hold said lockingelement in a retracted position against resilient urging thereof, theprojection then being disengaged relative to the groove of the rail withwhich it co-operates, the intermediate part having a resilient branchwhich, while the housing and the intermediate part are being installedon the rail, is urged back by the web of said rail coming into contactwith the catch, so as to disengage the catch from the complementaryprojection with which it co-operates, the locking element thenresiliently urging the projection into the groove of the rail.

Thus, to fix the housing on the rail, the operator needs only to cockthe locking element, and then exert a simple thrust force on the housingonce it has been presented on the rail together with its intermediatepart.

The fixing device proposed by the invention also has the advantage ofbeing adaptable to shelving of different dimensions, and in particularshelves of different thicknesses.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear furtherfrom the following description of a particular embodiment thereof. Thedescription is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device of the invention for fixing thehousing of an electronic display module; and

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are perspective views of the intermediate part forlocking the FIG. 1 fixing device, said intermediate part being shownrespectively in its locking state and in its non-locking state.

The device shown in FIG. 1 enables a housing 1 of a display module thatforms an electronic label to be fixed on a shelf 2. The module has ascreen 3 which, when the housing 1 is fixed on the shelf 2, is parallelto the edge 4 of the shelf 2 and is visible to a consumer passingbetween the shelves.

The display module forms a portion of an installation of the typedescribed in above-specified French patent application FR-2 658 645.

The fixing device mainly comprises a holding bar 5 and an intermediatepart 6 between the bar 5 and the housing 1.

The holding bar 5 is a part comprising a sill 10 for supporting the bar5 on a shelf and a generally channel-section reception rail 5a. The rail5a has a web 7 with two longitudinally-extending flanges 8 and 9referred to throughout below as the bottom flange 8 and the top flange9, with reference to their respective positions when the bar 5 is inplace on the shelf 2. The sill 10 runs along said rail 5a and projectsperpendicularly from the web 7 in the opposite direction to the topflange 9.

The holding bar 5 is designed to be mounted on the shelf 2 in such amanner that the sill 10 and the web 7 bear respectively against the topface of the shelf 2 and against its edge 4. The bar 5 is fixed to theshelf 2 by rivets. The faces of the sill 10 and of the web 7 opposite totheir faces bearing against the shelf have longitudinal grooves 11designed to receive and to hide the heads of the rivets (not shown).

The bottom flange 8 is conventionally provided with a flat T-sectionslot 12 which opens out in the face of the flange 8 that faces away fromthe top flange 9. The slot 12 thus forms a slideway that faces downwardswhen the bar 5 is in place and that is suitable for carrying, forexample, folded PVC material for supporting publicity elements (of thetype commonly called [in French] "STOP-RAYON").

The rail 5a also has two serrated longitudinal inside grooves referenced13, one being in the bottom flange 8 and the other in the top flange 9.The two serrated grooves 13 extend facing each other along the entirelength of the rail 5a, and they are situated immediately adjacent to theweb 7.

Reference is now made more particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The intermediate part 6 shown therein is constituted by a plate 14 andby a resilient locking element 21 that is described in greater detailbelow. The outline of the plate 14 is rectangular. It comprises a backsheet 14a with outer and inner patterns 15 and 16 projecting therefrom,between which the element 21 is engaged. The outside width of the plate14 is slightly shorter than the distance between the facing faces of theflanges 8 and 9. The length of the plate is substantially equal to thelength of the housing 1.

The outer pattern 15 constitutes a frame around the major portion of theoutline of the plate 14. It is interrupted along each of the long sidesof the plate 14 by respective openings 17 centered in the correspondingsides and occupying substantially one-third of the sides (which fractionis, naturally, given solely as an indication and could be different). Oneither side of the opening 17, the pattern 15 is reinforced and inparticular its thickness extending along the long sides of the frame 14is greater than its thickness along the short sides thereof. Theportions of the outer pattern 15 that extend along the long sides of theplate 14 carry respective rims 18 that extend along each of said sides,projecting perpendicularly to the back sheet 14a of the plate 14. Eachof the two rims 18 carries ribs 35 projecting towards the inside of theframe, and designed to engage in corresponding grooves presented by thehousing 1, for the purpose of holding said housing 1 relative to theintermediate element 6.

The inner pattern 16 comprises a rib 16a forming an elongate rectangularoutline whose long sides are parallel to the long sides of the plate 14,said rib 16a being centered on the center of the plate 14. The widths ofthe rectangular rib 16a are extended at each end of the lengths of saidrib by ribs 16b that come to respective ends facing the reinforcedportions of the outer pattern 15. The gap between the outer pattern 15and each such rib 16b is the same for all four ribs 16b. Four roundedprojections 20 project from the short sides of the rectangular rib 16a,extending the long sides of said rib 16a beyond said short sides. One ofthe long sides of the rectangular rib 16a is interrupted in its middleportion by an opening 16c.

The back sheet of the plate 14 also carries two studs 19 (FIG. 2) thatdo not project so far as the patterns 15 and 16. These two studs 19 aredisposed at respective ends of the longitudinal midline of the plate 14and they are disposed adjacent to portions of the pattern 15 that extendalong the short sides of the plate 14. The gap between each of the studs19 and the rectangular rib 16a is substantially identical to the gapbetween the ribs 16b and the pattern 15.

The resilient locking element 21 has two uprights 22 interconnecting twolongitudinal cross-members 23. The uprights 22 and the cross-members 23together define a frame 24 which fits between the patterns 15 and 16 andwhich is held by friction relative thereto. In particular, when theelement 21 is in place on the plate 14, the ends of the ribs 16b engagethe inside walls of the corners of the frame 24, while the wallsdefining the outside corners of the frame 24 come into contact with thegreater thickness reinforced portions of the outer pattern 15. Theuprights 22 are then in contact via their inside walls with the roundedprojections 20.

Each upright 22 carries a lug-forming flat 24a that projects from theupright towards the outside of the frame. Each of the lugs 24a bears onthe end of a stud 19 when the element 21 is in place on the plate 14.

Each longitudinal cross-member 23 carries a tab 25 and a tongue 26, eachof which is flat and parallel to the midplane of the frame 24. Each tab25 extends from the cross-member 23 that carries it towards the outsideof the frame 24. Each tongue 26 extends from the correspondingcross-member 23 towards the inside of the frame 24. Such tabs 25 andtongues 26 are centered relative to the lengths of the cross-members 23that carry them.

The tabs 25 occupy one-third of the length of the cross-members 23 thatcarry them. On their edges furthest from the supporting cross-members23, the tabs carry serrations 27 that are designed to co-operate withthe serrations of the grooves 13, in a manner described in greaterdetail below. In a central portion of each tab 25, the serrations aredefined by a sloping surface 28 that runs from the tips of theserrations 27 towards the cross-member 23 carrying the tab 25, and fromone of the faces of the tab 25 towards its other face. The serrations 27on either side of the sloping surface 28 are closed at one end by a flatwall 29 that extends the face of the tab 25 that is opposite to the sideof the tab 25 at which the tips of the serrations on the sloping surface28 are located. The rim 18 that is closest to the opening 16c also has asloping surface 18a which is designed to extend the surface 28 of thetab 25 cooperating with said rim 18 when the longitudinal cross-member23 carrying the tab 25 is not subjected to bending.

The tongue 26 carried by the longitudinal cross-member 23 that isfurthest from the opening 16c is a spacer that bears against therectangular rib 16a. It prevents this longitudinal cross-member 23 frombending.

The other tongue 26 is terminated by a catch 30 that faces the backsheet 14a and that is designed to cooperate with the edge of the opening16c.

The outline that is defined on the back sheet 14a by the rectangular rib16a is open. The end portions of the rectangular rib 16a carryrespective flat resilient branches referenced 31 and 32 that overlie theresulting opening. Both branches extend parallel to the long sides ofthe plate 14, from respective ends of the rib 16a to substantially thecenter thereof. The end of the branch 31 that is furthest from the endcarrying it is terminated by two head portions 33 and 34 that projectfrom said branch, respectively from the side thereof that is designed tooverlie the web 7 and from the side thereof that is designed to face theback of the housing 1. The head portion 34 projects farther than thehead portion 33.

The back of the housing 1 has a recess (not shown) designed to receivethe head portion 34, and also a sloping groove 37 (FIG. 1) deigned toguide the head portion 34 into said recess.

The branch 32 is terminated by a slab 36 which projects a littlerelative to the face of the back sheet 14a that is designed to face theweb 7 and that is disposed exactly in the same zone as that occupied bythe catch 30 when the tongue 26 terminated by said catch 30 is pushedthrough the opening 16c.

Implementation of the fixing device is descried below.

Initially, the operator lays the holding bar 5 on the shelf 2 and fixesthe bar to the shelf, e.g. by riveting the web 7 and the sill 10 to theedge 4 and to the top face of the shelf 2 which are pre-drilled for thispurpose. The rivets are uniformly distributed along the length of theshelf 2 and they are disposed so that their heads are to be found in thegrooves 11.

As will have been observed, the bar 5 can be mounted on shelves ofdifferent sizes, and in particular on shelves of different thicknesses.

The resilient locking element 21 is installed on the plate 14 asfollows: the frame 24 is presented to the plate 14 at a slight angle soas to engage one of its tabs 25 in the opening 18 that is the closer tothe length of the rectangular rib 16a that does not have an opening.Thereafter, the frame 24 is tilted back between the outer and innerpatterns 15 and 16 causing the cross-member 23 carrying the outer tab 25to bend so as to insert the other tab into the corresponding opening 18(FIG. 2).

The housing 1 is then slid along the intermediate element 6 between therims 18 so that the ribs 35 engage in the complementary groovespresented by the housing 1. The groove 37 guides the head portion 34 tothe recess presented in the housing for receiving it.

Thereafter, the operator presses against the tab 25 that faces theopening 16c so as to push back the tongue 26 carrying the catch 30 untilthe catch engages on the edge of the back sheet 14a (FIG. 3). Thecross-member 23 carrying said tongue is then subjected to resilientbending. The tab 25 and its serrations 27 are retracted relative to thelong side of the plate 14.

The operator then inserts the assembly constituted by the intermediatepart 6 and the housing 1 mounted thereon into the rail 5a by tilting theassembly so that initially it is the serrations of the non-retracted tab25 that are presented to the serrations in the bottom serrated groove 13of the holding bar 5.

Once the serrations 27 on said tab 25 have meshed with the serrations inthe bottom serrated groove 13, the operator causes the assemblyconstituted by the intermediate part 6 and the housing 1 to pivotrelative to the midline of contact between said serrations 27 and thebottom serrated groove 13 so as to move the back sheet 14b towards theweb 7 of the bar 5.

When the back sheet 14b comes into abutment against the web 7, the slab36 of the resilient branch 32 is urged towards the back of thehousing 1. As it moves, the slab 36 also pushes against the catch 30.The longitudinal cross-member 23 carrying the tongue 26 which isterminated by said catch 30 returns resiliently to its rest position.The serrated tab 25 carried thereby is pushed through the opening 17 andengages in the top serrated groove 13.

Simultaneously, the head portion 33 of the tongue 31 is pushed back bycoming into contact with the web 7 in such a manner that the headportion 34 is forced into the recess presented by the housing 1. Thehousing 1 is thus locked relative to the intermediate part 6.

To disengage the housing 1 and the intermediate part 6 from the rail ofthe holding bar 5, the operator has a tool which enables a blade to beinserted between the serrations of the top tab 25 and the serrations inthe top groove 13 in the holding bar. The wall 29 and the slopingsurface 28 serve to guide the blade all the way to the tips of theserrations 27 of the tab 25. By applying pressure to the tips of theserrations 27, the operator can disengage the top serrations from theholding bar 5. It is then possible to withdraw the assembly constitutedby the intermediate part 6 and the housing 1 from the rail 5a. The headportion 34 is no longer locked in the corresponding recess in the backof the housing 1. The operator can then slide the housing 1 out of theintermediate part 6.

The various parts of the device as described above are made by molding,e.g. out of PVC.

In a variant, the bottoms of one or both of the two grooves 13 can bemade of a material that is more flexible (rubber, flexible PVC, or someother substance) than the remainder of the bar 5, and in which theserrations 27 penetrate for meshing purposes. Such a bar 5 is obtainedby using coextrusion methods known to the person skilled in the art.This more flexible material may be deposited on the teeth or it mayreplace them. It may fill the groove, it may be laminated, or it may beserrated.

The bar 5, the intermediate part 6, and the housing may be personalizedby special colors, by varying the colors of the substances from whichthose three elements are made, or indeed by plating a colored strip onthe web of the rail 5a.

Also in a variant, the teeth of the housing that are designed to engagein the grooves of the rail may be inverted compared with theconfiguration shown in the drawings.

Also in a variant, the teeth of the rail may be made separately.

They may also be replaced by any other element designed to be receivedin the groove(s) of the rail, which elements may be made by extrusion orby injection. Such an element may be fixed in the groove of the rail byvarious means, and in particular by adhesive, snap-fastening, or bymechanical co-operation implementing means of the dovetail type.

The teeth of the rail may be replaced by a foam, a rubber, or any otherfastening substance that performs the function of securing theintermediate part.

The teeth of the intermediate part may themselves be replaced by anyother securing means. In particular, they may be made at the top, or atthe bottom, or at both top and bottom, out of a plastics material thatis different from that of the remainder of the intermediate part. Thisuse of two kinds of plastic can be achieved by adding on an extra part.

Likewise, it will be observed that the grooves in the web of the railcould have any other disposition, and in particular they could besituated, for example, between the top and bottom sides of the rail, orthey could be situated at the front of the rail.

The holding bar may have various different shapes. In the exampledescribed, the shape of the bar enables it to be fitted to a shelfhaving a vertical edge. Its shape could be different for shelves made ofbasket wire or of glass (e.g. a glass sheet).

The bar may be fixed to its support by means other than riveting, and inparticular it may be fixed thereto by adhesive or by adhesive strips.

I claim:
 1. A device for fixing at least one electronic module housing(1) for displaying information relating to goods exposed in a shop, andin particular in a retail shop, the device comprising a rail (5a)designed to receive the housing (1) and an intermediate part (6) whichcarries at least one resilient locking member (21) having at least oneprojection designed to co-operate with a groove presented by the rail(5) for the purposing of holding said housing (1) relative to said rail(5a), the housing (1) and said intermediate part (6) presentingcomplementary means (35) for fixing said housing (1) on saidintermediate part (6), the device being characterized in that thelocking element (21) has a catch (30) designed to co-operate with acomplementary projection on the intermediate part (6) to hold saidlocking element (21) in a retracted position against resilient urgingthereof, the complementary projection (25) then being disengagedrelative to the groove (13) of the rail with which it co-operates, theintermediate part (6) having a resilient branch (32) which, while thehousing (1) and the intermediate part (6) are being installed on therail (5a), is urged back by the web (7) of said rail coming into contactwith the catch (30), so as to disengage the catch from the complementaryprojection with which it cooperates, the locking element (21) thenresiliently urging the projection into the groove of the rail (5a).
 2. Adevice according to claim 1, characterized in that the rail (5a) has aweb (7) and two longitudinally-extending flanges (8, 9) on either sideof the web (7), together with two inside grooves (13) carried byrespective ones of the flanges (8, 9) and extending along the web (7) inthe immediate vicinity thereof.
 3. A device according to claims 1 or 2,characterized in that the intermediate part (6) carries a resilientbranch (32) terminated by a head portion (34), the back of the housing(1) having a recess designed to receive said head portion (34), saidbranch (32) being urged during installation of the housing (1) and theintermediate part (6) on the rail (5a) by coming into contact with theweb (7) of said rail, thereby causing said head portion (34) to engagein said recess so as to lock the housing (1) relative to saidintermediate part (6).
 4. A device according to any preceding claim,characterized in that at least one projection (25) has serrations (27)designed to co-operate with complementary means carried by the groove(13) which co-operates with at least one said projection (25), for thepurpose of securing the housing (1) longitudinally relative to the rail(5a).
 5. A device according to claim 4, characterized in that theserrations (27) are distributed along the entire length of at least oneof the grooves (13) in the rail.
 6. A device according to claim 4,characterized in that the bottom of at least one of the grooves in therail is made of a material in which the serrations of the at least oneserrated projection are designed to penetrate for engagement purposes.7. A device according to claim 2 characterized in that the bottom flange(8) of the rail (5a) has a flat slot (12) open to the face of saidflange (8) facing away from the top flange (9) and designed to receiveand carry publicity supports.
 8. A device according to claim 2 forfixing the housing (1) on shelving (2), characterized in that the rail(5a) is a portion of section bar (5) also having a sill (10) thatextends substantially at right angles to the web (7) of the rail (5a)being designed to bear against a top face and an edge of a shelf (4),respectively.
 9. A device according to claim 8, characterized in thatthe rail (5a) and the sill (10) are fixed to the shelf (2) by riveting,and have longitudinal grooves (11) for receiving the heads of therivets.